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Community news
Community news
IRON MOUNTAIN — The Department of Veterans Affairs’ Veteran Experience Office announced Aug. 12 that the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center topped all other VA facilities nationwide and has received the 2020 Best in Overall Experience Award.
This year, OGJVAMC was recognized out of 170 VA medical centers nationwide as the top performer in patient and employee experience. The facility was judged on leadership, culture, listening to the voice of the veteran, patient communications, employee engagement, veteran trust, environment, and measurement and improvement.
This is the center’s third nationwide patient experience award in three years. In 2018 and 2019, it was awarded the Best Experience Award over all level III facilities.
“Earning the trust of our veterans is a major component of our noble mission, and a focal point of the culture at our medical center,” said Jim Rice, medical center director. “What makes me most proud is that our staff strives every day to improve every veteran’s experience at our medical center and our Community Based Outpatient Clinics across the Upper Peninsula and northern Wisconsin.”
During the pandemic, the medical center focused on engaging employees through monthly employee town hall meetings, leadership training and mentoring, veteran-centric training, employee-initiated improvement projects, and recognition of staff achievements.
OGJVAMC consistently ranks nationally as one of the top five VHA facilities for employee satisfaction since 2016 and was nationally ranked first and third for Best Place to Work in 2018 and 2019.
“Our employees feel passionate about serving veterans,” said Rice. “They know that when the focus is on providing quality care to the veteran, the numbers and metrics will take care of themselves.”
Outside of the VA, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services uses a five-star quality rating system to measure the experiences Medicare beneficiaries have with their health plan and health care system — the Star Rating Program. Health plans are rated on a scale of one to five stars, with five being the highest. CMS has rated OGJVAMC as a 5-star facility for patient experience every year since 2017.